Refrigerator



July 31,' 1945. 1, w. CHAMBERLAIN l v 2,380,901

K v REFRIGEATOR Filed Feb. la; i943 2 sheets-sheet 1 July 31, 19115- J.w. cHA-MBERLAIN REFRIGERATOR Filed Feb. 13, 1943 2 sheets-sheet 2Patented July 3l, 1945' SEP 23i947 l v.inserm w. Chamberlain, zeeland,man.'

Application February 13, 1943, Serial No. 475,715

itjggfin) This invention relates in general .to refrigeratitors andparticularly to that type of refrigerator which is designed for coolingfluids or other substances. More especially, my invention relates to thecooling of mill: and the preferred embodiment of the invention asdisclosed herein is designed .to cool nuids, such es milk, in arelatively short period of time.

@ne of .the objects of thisinvention is to provide a structure wherein ailuid such as milk can be economically cooled at a'rapid rate.

Another object of the invention is to provide Fig; 2 is a verticalsection ltaken from front to rear through substantially the center ofthe refrigerator;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section through the refrigerator takensubstantially on the plane of line 3 3 of Fig. 1 with e. part of the panbroken a cabinet within which the substance to be cooled can be placedin a receptacle and have a heat exchange iluid, such as water, sprayedon the sides and bottom thereof to thereby effect a speedy cooling oftheiiuid.

it. further object of the invention is to pro-4 vide, in a refrigerator,a compartment wherein ice is formed. around and through which the usedheat exchange or cooling lluid may be passed for further cooling andre-use. A

Still another object. of the invention is .to provide within therefrigerator additional means for maintaining the air in the cabinet ata low temperature so that fluid, such as stored therein will not becomewarm.-

A further object of the invention is to provide, in a refrigerator, ameans to automatically vcontrol the refrigerating unit in such a. mannerthat it will start within a short or predeter- 1 mined time after thecooling process has been started and will stop when the desired amountof ice has been reformed, thus eliminating the usual gradual building upofthe ice reserve be yond the desired amount. 1

A further object of the invention is to provide, in a refrigeratorhaving a quantity of ice thereima means to cause the ice to meltuniformly so that it will be replaced uniformly.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of arefrigerating unit which can be not only cheaply constructed but alsoeconomical to operate.

A still further object of the invention is' to provide a method by whicha substance can be away to show the coils in plan;

Fig. fi is a lragmentary'perspective w'evv of the pan disposedimmediately above the coils; and.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary enlarged section through the pan showing thepreferred construction of the' openings therein.

The invention disclosed herein is designed as a more economicalstructure and as an improvement over the device disclosed by me inPatent No. 2,256,971, issued September 23, 1941.

In the preferred embodiment of myimproved structure l provide a cabinet,in the lower portion of which is a compartment which may either beintegral with or separate from the main refrigerator box. ln this lowercompartment l provide a plurali-ty of refrigerating coils oreconomically and quickly brought from a high to an evaporator adapted toform a substantially solid block of ice therein.. immediately above thisblock of ice li provide a pan having a plurality of perforationstherein. The excess water in the lower compartment is pumped therefromand sprayed over the receptacle within which the milk or other substanceto be cooled is located. A portion of the cold water thus pumped isicy-passed andv is sprayed upwardly against the bottom of thereceptacle. This water mixes with the water being sprayed over therecetatacle and passes downwardly through the perforations in the panand flows in streams onto the ice in the lower counter-tament- At rstthe waterA will form a thin layer over the top of the block of ice,however as the process is carried on the water ilowing through theperforations inthe pan *will form holes `through the block of ice.Eventually these holes will extend entirely through the ice so that .thewater will not only pass over and around the ice but downwardlytherethrough. Some of .this water will also directly contact therefrigerating coils and thus the temperature of the water or other heatexchange liquid will be quickly lowered. By utilizing this method I havebeen able to effectively cool a conventional can of milk. from atemperature in the neighborhood of F. 'down to around 45 or 50 F. in aperiod of about ten minutes.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, it will be noted thatin this preferred embodiment I provide a refrigerator cabinet havingspaced apart sides 2 and I, a back I, a bottom l and a top I0. In thefront of the box I may provide doors or other suitable closure members.However, it is necessary that the entireV cabinet .together with thefront closure members, be effectively insulated to prevent any warm airfrom entering and thus decreasing the emciency of the cooling system. vI

In the bottom portion of the cabinet, or in any other desired locationadjacent thereto, I provide a compartment l2 within which a plurality ofreirigerating coils Il are located. If desired these coils may besupported by brackets I6 which may either rest on the bottom or besuspended from suitable means within the cabinet. Immediately abovethese coils there is provided a pan I8 having a plurality ofperforations 20 therein. The upper edges of the sides and ends of thispan are outwardly flanged as at 22, see Fig. 4, so that the pan can bewelded or otherwise permanently secured to a plurality of spaced aparttransversely extending bars 2l. These bars may be either flat or of a Tformation as shown.

At opposite sides of the refrigerator box and therewithin thereare'provided angle bars 26 so as to support the pan IB by having thecross bars 2l thereof rest on the horizontally extending leg members ofsaid angle bars.

Assuming that milk is to be the fluid cooled it is usually placed in areceptacle such as that shown at 28. This receptacle is then placedwithin the refrigerator at one side thereof and rests upon the bars 24.It is to be understood of course tliat the refrigerators may be made anydesirable size. However, it is customary to provide means for coolingone or more cans of milk while providing space for storing the cans ofmilk already cooled. Obviously the number of cans of milk to be cooledand stored will vary, depending upon the size of the farm or dairy usingthe refrigerator. In the present instance, however, I have shown arefrigerator having sufficient space therein to cool one can of milk andadditional space for storing a can of milk already cooled.

At one side of the refrigerator and at the upper portion thereof I.provide a motor 30 which has a downwardly extending shaft 32 locatedwithin a tubular housing 34. I'his shaft extends to the lower part ofthe refrigerating compartment and is connected to a pump 26. A conduit38 is connected to the pump and is adapted to carry water or othercooling fluid from the lower refrigerating compartment upwardly throughthe conduit il to a location above the receptacle. The

upper end of the conduit 40 is provided with a T connection 42 which hasextending outwardly at each end thereof short conduits Il and 46 which,in turn, have connected thereto the forwardly extending conduits 48 and50. These conduits or pipes I8 and 50 extend forwardly one at each sideof the upper portion of the receptacle 28 and have a plurality of spacedapart openings in the underside thereof which direct the water in theform of small streams inwardly toward the receptacle, so that when thepump is in operation the cold water will be carriedfrom the lowercompartment upwardly and sprayed rial No. 405,277, filed August 4, 1941.

As stated before, a portion of the water thus by-passed to sprayupwardly against the under-- side of the receptacle and for this purposethere is provided a forwardly extending conduit 52 (see Fig. 4) whichhas an upturned forward end 54. In the preferred form of the inventionshown herein the conduit 52 extends forwardly at approximately the samelevel as the pan ll or slightly thereabove and for this reason I providea cut-out portion in the pan and surround the conduit 52 by means of ahousing 56. If desired, however, it would not eect the operation of thedevice to have the conduit 5 2 pass beneath the pan and spray the waterupwardly through a suitable opening therein. In the present instance,however, the conduit is permitted to terminate closely adjacent theunderside of the receptacle and thus have a greater cooling effectthereon.

There is, however, a second and equally, if not more, important reasonfor thus by-passing a portion of the cooled` water. The warmer waterhowing over the receptacle mixes uniformly with the cooler by-passedwater, and this mixture having a uniform temperature, is thendistributed evenly over the ice through the openings in the tray I8,thus causing a uniform melting of the ice. Such a uniform melting isnecessary to insure an equally uniform replacement of the ice during andafter the cooling cycle.

I have found it most convenient to locate the usual refrigeratormechanism I8 at the top of the refrigerator. However, the particularlocation of this mechanism is not important. The detalls of such arefrigerating device or compressor are well known to those skilled inthe art and need not be described in detail here. However, suillce it tosay it is provided with the usual motor as indicated at 60.

While it is not necessary to the successful operation of myrefrlgerating mechanism, I have found it highly desirable, especially inwarmer weather, to provide refrigerating means or a hold-over device forreserve cooling within the upper part of the cabinet. In the preferredembodiment of my invention I have shown this portion of therefrigerating mechanism as being located adjacent the top of the cabinetas at 62. The housing l2 is provided therein with a plu rality ofrefrigerating coils Il and a quantity of liquid such as water, and asthe refrigerant passes therethrough a quantity of ice is formed withinthe housing so that the temperature within the cabinet will bemaintained comparatively low. For example, in actual practice I preferto arrange this mechanism so as to maintain a substantially 40 F..temperature within the cabinet, thus maintaining the milk or othercooled fluid at a low temperature even though it is being storedtherein. It may be desirable in certain thereof. However, I have foundthat the placement of this device adjacent the top of the cabinetobtains more satisfactory results. This device creates a naturalcirculation of air within the cabinet, since the warm air tends to riseand the cooler air at the top tends to drop, thus replacing the warm airand maintaining the cabinet at a substantially even low temperature forall practical purposes.

The refrigerating mechanism I8 is provided with the usual outlet for therefrigerant which then passes through the expansion valve Il and intothe coils Il. The water within the compart-I 4ment will then eventuallybecome frozen and form a solid block oi' ice. The refrigerant thenpasses out of the compartment and upwardly through the pipe 18 to thehousing 82 of the reserve cooling device. Passing of the refrigerantthrough these coils will eventually freeze the water in the housing andform ice therein. The refrigerant then leaves the coils N and passesupwardly to the inlet 12, into the refrigerating mechanism or compressorat the top of the cabinet.

In controlling the temperature and the flow of the refrigerant I providetwo thermal bulbs; one indicated at 14which is connected directly to theexpansion valve by the connection Il and controls the flow of therefrigerant therethrough, and the other indicated at 18 within therefrigerating compartment, which is connected directly to the controlmechanism which controls the motor 88 through the connection 88 andstarts or stops the motor, depending upon the temperature at which thebulb 'Il is set to operate.

It is to be noted that the location of the bulb 18 is quite important inthat it should be in a position so that the warmer used water can bedirected against it when the cooling process is started. The reason forthis will appear more fully hereinafter. In the present instance it isshown secured to one of the top coils Il and immediately below the panI8.

In order to avoid operating the compressor or refrigerating mechanism agreat number of times daily and, which is even more important, toprevent a gradual accumulation of ice beyond the.

desired amount, I have found it desirable to start the flow ofrefrigerant `within a short period of time after a cooling process hasstarted. so that the ice which has been melted by the warmer f waterpassing thereover will be replaced. To explain more fully,'in theconventional type of cooler -employing an ice reserve it is customary toprovide a large tank having a number of rei'rigerat ing coils therein.The receptacles are immersed in the water of the tank and the bulb ol'the temperature control is embedded in the ice. In that type ofrefrigerator no provision is made for melting the ice around the bulbfasterthan elsewhere, therefore the control must be set to cut in thecompressor at a temperature of 32"` F. or less. Consequently therefrigerant in the coils is maintained at 32 F. or less and some icewill continue to form after the cooling operation has ceased. Thedevice, then.' cycles quite often even during periods when nothing isbeing cooled, and, theaamount of ice which is formed each time is up ofexcess ice around the coils. In some machines manual controls areprovided to avoid this. bu that is obviouslyundesirable.

While this excess ice acts as an insulator and thus reduces theeiliciency of the machine, it can be operated by providing asuillciently large body of water. On the other hand it would not bepractical for a compact machine of the character herein described,because the limited amount of water available wouldl eventually becomefrozen and none would remain for carrying out the cooling operation.

`I, therefore, prevent such accumulation of unwanted ice by setting thecontrol bulb to cut in at a temperature'above 32 F. and causing the icearound the bulb to melt. rapidly as soon as the cooling cycle hasstarted. .The amount of ice being replaced is then controlled by settingthe control to cut out at a lower temperature. The

Vlong off cycle more than compensates for the unit cannot, therefore,operate on short cycles, and thev amount of ice which melts during theamount formed after the compressor stops.

To do this in the specific embodiment of the invention shown herein Iprovide a greater number of perforations in the pan I8 immediately overthe bulb 18, so that as soon as the cooling Process starts and the firstof the warmer water is received in the pan I8 more water' will passdownwardly through the pan in4 the vicinity of the bulb 18 than at anyother place. mediately melts the ice around the bulb and within a veryfew minutes will raise the temperature of the bulb so that it will startthe refrigerating mechanism and the ilow of refrigerant. It will beobvious then that the refrigerant will continue to flow until thedesired amount of ice has been re-formed and the refrigerator will be inreadiness for cooling the next group of milk receptacles. In actualpractice I have found the most satisfactory results to be obtained whenthe thermal bulb 18 is set to start the motor 68 at a temperature above32 F. and preferably in the neighborhood of' 34 F. and to stop therefrigerating action when the temperature has dropped to about 27 F.,although it may be Avaried within desirable limits. When the bulb isthus set and the refrigerating operation is begun, suilicient ice Willhave been melted" from around the bulb 18 and its temperature willattain 34 F. to start the motor 60 in about 21A minutes. The ice howeverwill not be re-formed quite as fast as it is melted, so that when thecooling operation has ceased the refigerant will continue to ilow for aperiod of time until the desired amount of ice has been re-formed andthebulb 'I8 reaches 27 F.. at which time the motor 68 will be stopped andthe flow of refrigerant will cease.

By the use of this structure and method I have found that therefrigerator will go through this cycle only twice a day, and then onlyat those times when a cooling operation is being performed and for aperiod of time thereafter. In refrigerators of this general characterheretofore known where use is made of the formation of ice around coils,it is quite usual for such refrigerators to cycle as many as six loreight times daily and in some instances every 1% hours or so. Theadvantages in cycling the machine but `twice a day instead of severaltimes will be obvious.

Another novel feature of my invention is making use of the pump motor 30to also drive the agitator within the receptacle during the coolingoperation. As is customary, the agitator has the usual blades 82 whichare secured to one end of a shaft 84. This shaft extends upwardly and isdetachably secured at its upper end -to a coupling 86 which in turn isrotated-by its connection with a suitable vertical shaft. On thepermanently mounted vertical shaft I provide a pulley 88. Above thepulley the shaft is suitably mounted in a housing 98 within whichv lthenecessary bearings4 are located which may be sealed within the housing'and self-lubricated. The upper end of the shaft 32 of the motor 30 isprovided with a pulley 82 which in turn is con.-

nected with the pulley 88 by means of a belt 94.

It will thus be evident that as long as the coolingr operation is inprocess land the `motor 30 is in operation, the agitator consistingofthe shaft 84 and the blades 82 will also be operated. At the Thisimceptacle can be removed and either be placed in storage in the otherside of the cabinet or otherwise disposed of. In order to prevent anydirt or grease from this mechanism from dropping downwardly into themilk or other substance being cooled, I place a housing 9B around thetwo pulleys and seal the oil in the bearings. The particular formof thishousing is not important as long as it provides a sealed enclosure toprevent leakage of oil or grease out of the bearings. especially if thesubstance being cooled is milk. Means may also be provided for mountingthe stirrer mechanism flexibly. such as in rubber or on springs toprevent excessive vibra.

tions of the stirrer if the rod should be bent and out of balance.

The operation of my device is novel in many respects. For example, itmakes use of the fact that a small stream of water falling on a block ofice will eventually form a hole through the ice from top to bottom.Formation of excessivev amounts of ice is prevented by automaticcontrol, and uniform melting of the ice is secured by mixing the warmerwater flowing over the receptacle with the by-passed water anddistributing it uniformly over the ice bank. Assuming that therefrigerating device has operated for a suiiicient length of time toform a solid block of ice in the lower compartment and the milkreceptacle is suitably located between the spray arms I8 and 50, themotor 30 isl then turned on. The excess water in the lower compartmentis then pumped upwardly through the conduits 40. A greater proportion ofthis Water will then be by-passed through the conduit 52 and will besprayed upwardly against the bottom of the receptacle 28. The remainderof the water will pass upwardly and will be sprayed over the receptaclethrough the openings in the conduits 48 and 50. The water thus sprayedover the receptacle will pass downwardly and become warmer. The watersprayed upwardly against the bottom of the receptacle will be severaldegrees colder because it has not contacted asv great an area of thereceptacle. I'he sprayed water and the by-passed water will then mix andbe received by the pan I8. At first a sufficient amount of the Waterwill pass through the openings in the pan immediately above the bulb 18to melt the ice and raise the temperature of the bulb so as to start themotor 60. In a very short time the water in the pan will be above theraised perforations 20 and the water therein will pass substantiallyuniformly downwardly and fall in small streams onto the block of ice. Atfirst the water will pass over the ice and down the sides thereof to bepumped and sprayed over the receptacle. 'I'he falling water, however,will eventually form holes in the ice substantially as shown by thedotted lines in Fig. 1 and this will continue until these holes extendthrough to the bottom of the block of ice. By this time a portion of thecoils will also be bared and some of the water will flow directly incontact therewith. It will thus be evident that the warmer water is ableto pass over an unusually great area of ice so that this water will berapidly cooled down to a temperature in the neighborhood of 33 or 34 F.

It will be clear from the foregoing that, by this method of control acycle of operation will start shortly af-ter each cooling operation hasbegun, or after the machinehas stood idle long enough to cause thebulbtemperature to rise to approximately 34 F. Furthermore, the mixing ofthe -`substances capable of being cooled by the use of my invention. Itwill be clear that substances other than those mentioned herein can berefrigerated without in any way departing from ,the

, spirit of the invention. For example; the device could be used as anair conditioner by cooling air in the manner herein described and thenpassing the air into a room.

While I have described and claimed the device as utilizing refrigeratingcoils through which a refrigerant pas'ses, it will be obvious that othermeans, such as an evaporator, can be used inter- V changeably therewith.

While it is not necessary to the successful operation of the device tohave the perforations 20 in the pan I8 raised, it is better to have themso for sanitary reasons. Any dirt or sand which may be present in thewater will thus be collected in the pan and will not be carried up overthe raised perforations.

This construction also facilitates the cleaning of the pan and the lowercompartment, since after a cooling operation the pan and the cross-barsconnected thereto can be easily removed from the cabinet to provideaccess to the coils.

Having thus described my invention. what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

1. An apparatus of the class described comprising a compartment havingmeans to freeze a block oi' ice, means for introducing a cooling fluidinto said compartment to be cooled by said ice, means for conveying saidcooling fluid from said compartment after it has been cooled and passingit in heat exchange relation with a substance to be cooled, and means todistribute said cooling 40 uid over said ice in such a way as to melt aplurality of holes in the ice.

2. A refrigerator of the class described comprising a refrigeratingcompartment adapted to contain a quantity of heat exchange liquid, aplurality of refrigerating coils in said compartment. means for passinga refrigerant through said coils to thereby freeze a part of saidliquid, means for passing the remainder of said liquid in heat exchangerelation with a substance to be cooled, and means for distributing saidliquid after it has passed in heat exchange relation with the substanceto be cooled in such a manner as to melt holes at spaced intervals inthe frozen part of said liquid.

3. In a refrigerator of the class described, two cooling zones eachhaving a quantity of a freezable heat exchange liquid and refrigeratingcoils therein, means for passing a. refrigerant first through the coilsin one zone and then through the coils in the other zone to therebyfreeze at least a part of the liquid in each zone, and means forcirculating the remaining liquid from at least one of the zones in heatexchange relation with a substance to be cooled, the other zone beingadapted to maintain the air in the cabinet at a low temperature.

4. A refrigerator of the class described comprising a refrigeratingcompartment having lcoils therein to freeze a substantially solid blockof ice in said compartment, a heat exchange liquid in said compartment.means to circulate said liquid in heat exchange relation with asubstance to be cooled, means to collect said liquid after performingits cooling' operation and distribute it over said ice, a temperatureresponsive control embedded in said ice, and means'to rapidly melt theice locally in the area of saidcontrol immediately after starting thecooling operation to thereby start the flow of refrigerant through saidcoils and replace the ice melted by distribution of said liquidthereover.

5. A refrigerator of the class described comprising a refrigeratingcompartment having coils therein to freeze a substantially solid blockof ice in said compartment, a heat exchange liquid in said compartment,means to circulate said liquid in heat exchange relation witha'substance to be cooled, a pan having a plurality of perforationstherein to collect said liquid after it has passed in heat exchangerelation with said substance and distribute it over said ice to therebymelt the ice and cool the liquid, a temperature responsive controlembedded in the ice, and means to rapidly melt the ice locally in thearea of said control to actuate said control and start the flow ofrefrigerant within a predetermined period of time after starting thecooling operation, thus replacing the lCe.

6. A refrigerator of the class described comprising a refrigeratingcompartment having coils therein to freeze a substantially solid blockof ice in said compartment, a heat exchange liquid in said compartment,means to circulate said liquid in heat exchange relation with asubstance to be cooled, a pan. having a plurality of perforations byquickly cool said liquid, and then circulating the cooled liquid in heatexchange relation with a e substance to be refrigerated.

10. The method of refrigeration which consists of circulating a cooledliquid in heat exchange relation with a substance to be refrigerated,passing the liquid thus circulated over a block of ice in a plurality ofindividual streams to thereby recool the liquid by melting holes in theice, and then replacing the ice thus melted, the ice replacing stepbeing started within a predetcr mined time after the refrigerating stepis begun and carried on until a predetermined amount of ice has beenreplaced.

11. In a cooling apparatus, means for freezing a freezable coolingliquid to a cake, means for directing a plurality of streams of a warmercooling 7. The method of refrigeration which consists K ated.

9. The method of refrigeratlonwhich consists of forming a block of ice,forming a plurality oi' holes in said ice,V passing a heat exchangeliquid over said ice and into the holes therein to thereliquid againstsaid frozen cake to melt a plurality of h'oles therein thereby coolingsaid warmer liquid,l and means for circulating the liquid so cooled inheat exchange relation with a substance t0 be refrigerated.

l2. In a cooling apparatus, means for freezing a freezable coolingliquid to a cake, means for directing a plurality of streams of a warmercooling uid against said frozen cake to melt a plurality of holestherein thereby cooling said warmer cooling liquid, means forcirculating the liquid so cooled in heat exchange relation with asubstance to be refrigerated, and means to replace said frozen cake byfreezing said cooling liquid at a slower rate than the rate at whichsaid cake was melted.

13. Ina cooling apparatus, means for freezing a freezable cooling liquidto form a, frozen cake,

means for directing a plurality of streams of said cooling liquidagainst said frozen cake to melt a plurality of holes therein therebyfurther cooling said cooling liquid, said means for directing saidstreams against said cake comprising a pan disposed above said cake andhaving holes therein at spaced intervals, means for circulating theliquid so cooled in heat exchange relation with a substance to berefrigerated, and means to pass said cooling liquid to said pan after ithas performed the cooling operation.

14,-In a cooling apparatus of the class described, a compartment'havingmeans therein to freeze a' block of ice, a cooling liquid in saidcompartment adapted to be cooled .by said ice, means for conveying saidcooling liquid to a receptacle containing a substance to becooled,.means to collect said cooling liquid after it passes from saidreceptacle and to distribute it over said ice in such a manner as tocause said ice to melt uniform1y,and means to replace said ice at aslower rate than it is melted.

. JOSEPH W. CHAMBERLAIN.

